You know? Sometimes you just need TWO minutes to finish making lunch, or fold a heaping pile of laundry, or go to the bathroom in peace. Toddlers (and infants, and preschoolers, and probably older kids too - we're just not there yet!) aren't very good about entertaining themselves for two minutes straight though. Well, unless they're up to no good, of course. Then they can disappear for eerily long stretches... Anyway, my point is that it's a good idea to have an arsenal of distraction techniques at your disposal (since you have to rotate through them regularly to keep them fresh and make them work). So here are a few of our favorites:
1) Hand them a damp cloth and ask them to wash the baseboards. They actually like it. And they can actually get a reasonable amount of dust cleaned up in a couple minutes time. Really though, you can give them any number of simple tasks (move the laundry from washer to dryer, put all the magnets back on the fridge, pick up the puzzle pieces, whatever you need to get done. Little ones love to help!
2) Send them on a wild-goose chase (I learned this one from my friend Dawn - thanks Dawn!). That is, send them to find something that you know they can't find (perhaps a toy you've recently sent to The Land Of Misused Toys or a book that you know is laying flat up on the mantle or something you remember leaving in the car). Don't worry, it's not mean. As long as you give up said item once they've spent a few minutes seriously searching for it!
3) Feed them. Or give them something to drink. Kids are easily distracted by consumables. Bonus if you feed them something bite-sized in a package so that it takes them longer to dig out the pieces.
4) Break out a toy they haven't played with in a week or longer. It's like Christmas all over again!
5) Tell them to go hug one of the cats (or whatever animal you keep in your home). It takes a while to track them down, capture them, and smother them with affection.
6) Challenge them. How many times can you run around the kitchen island? How fast can you put all the Legos on the table? How many green books can you find on the bookshelf?
7) Same ol' activity, different locale. Let them color up at the counter instead of at the table. Blow bubbles in the bathtub instead of outside. Feed them a picnic on the living room floor instead of at the table. Go read books upstairs in Mama's bed instead of in their own. The bonus with young kids is that unless they're OCD, different is good. If it seems new, and especially if you make a big deal about it, they'll be happy and entertained. Along the same lines, you can easily make a normal activity more exciting by switching up the materials. Let them play with Silly Putty instead of Playdough. Give them markers instead of crayons. Hand them a magazine instead of a board book.
I bet some of you have great ideas to add to this list - let me hear them please! I'm alone with the kids this week (first time ever!, for longer than an 8-hour day, anyway) while Jay is at a conference (my day 1 of solo-parenting from sunrise to sunset went surprisingly well - yay!) and I guarantee you I'll be running through this list daily. Also, on that note, if any of you single parents or parents with spouses that travel a lot have tips for getting through this week without losing my sanity or sense of adventure, I'm all ears. So far I have 1) pre-plan my meals (done!) and 2) stay out of the house as much as possible (negative - we didn't even leave the house today due to the rain, but the rest of the week we'll be busy with work/school, gym/pool, and errands). Thanks in advance, and wish me luck!
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